Skip Bayless May Hate Ohio State…
December 18, 2008A Game-Changer?
December 18, 2008Over the summer, a lot of people were discussing the size of Team USA. One of the starting big men on the team was Utah’s Carlos Boozer, who stood about 6’9″, 280 lbs. What’s absolutely crazy about those numbers is how strikingly similar they are to LeBron James, who for all intents and purposes is more of the “guard” variety.
Today, The Big Lead takes it a step further, comparing James to other sports’ best athletes.
…at 274 pounds, LeBron weights more than the following NFL players: DeMarcus Ware, Joey Porter, John Abraham and James Harrison. These four men play linebacker or defensive end, and currently are your NFL sack leaders, respectively. LeBron has five or more inches in height on all of these men.
It’s no secret that LeBron played the pigskin back in high school, but wisely chose the route of basketball. The thing is, he was a wide receiver – a 6’8″ wide receiver. Defensive backs should be thrilled with the fact that James chose basketball as not many 5’10”, 185 lb. DBs would want to meet up with that on a crossing pattern. And I’m willing to bet that James is quicker than the aforementioned sack specialists, which is amazing given his height. He would be a offensive lineman’s nightmare.
On the basketball court, we sometimes complain that opposing defenders get the benefit of the doubt when James heads to the lane. They tend to bounce off of him like footballs to Braylon Edwards’ chest. (I couldn’t resist). And while he may get his share of offensive control violations, fact is that LeBron James is currently one of the most fascinating athletes in all of sports. And we get to watch and appreciate him every night.
We were one of those guys who didn’t fully appreciate Air Jordan (our favorite non-game winning jumpshot in NBA history is at the 2:15 mark) back when he was dominating in the 90s (Magic Johnson fan here). In hindsight, we can now see that Jordan was the best player in the history of the NBA. We won’t make the same mistake this time with James.
Waxing Rhapsodic About 274-pound LeBron, Briefly [The Big Lead]
20 Comments
I don’t think LeBron is 275. Maybe 260…maaaaaybe. He has huge deltoids, which makes him look big, but I call horsefeathers on 275.
Agreed Bambino. I think he’s closer to 250. Even LeBron said last week, I believe that the reports of 275 we’re accurate (though he didn’t volunteer his actual weight). If he played football he’d be an unstoppable tight end.
a ‘solider’ if you will…
They mentioned the number 274 on ESPN during last week’s game against the Sixers and even compared LeBron to Carolina’s Julius Peppers. Dude’s a freak.
I believe it was Fred McCleod who actually said he saw what LBJ weighed and it was 274 when he got on the scale. I don’t care what ESPN says, if it’s what someone that close to the team I’ll believe it.
“..bounce off of him like footballs to Braylon Edwards’ chest…”
Et tu, Scott? Et tu?
On the last (or 2nd last if they’ve added another) Windhorst podcast, Brian discusses this topic for several minutes.
Brian says he talked to LBJ. LBJ had no idea where the 274 thing came from. Said the heaviest he’s been this year is 263-264, but prefers to be at 260.
Windhorst – Jonny on the spot – as always.
Is there a bigger waste of internet bandwidth than Branson Wright? He is everything journalists hate about bad bloggers.
Oh, and Michigan still sucks.
274 is a lot of weight, even for a guy who is 6’8″. BMI indicates that you’re obese at those numbers – although it doesn’t account for bulging muscle mass. Bron-Bron is a big boy, no doubt, but I call shenanigans on the 274 weigh-in.
Oh, and Michigan still sucks.
haha scott… someone needs to tally the number of times edwards has been made fun of today. its gotta be some kind of WFNY record on a single athlete… let alone one that’s actually on OUR team
Not to derail, but BMI is a bunch of crap, especially for athletes. Someone made a big deal last year about 60% of players in the NBA, and 75% of players in the NFL being “obese”, LoL.
Yes, BMI is a load of crappola for anyone who has ever seen the inside of a gym. I came damn close for having to pay extra for insurance last year, and I was probably somewhere around 10% bodyfat.
@mendy – I’d say that Deshawn Stevenson might have been made fun of more when he got Soulja Boy’ed, but it’s definitely close.
Hey Braylon-Go play for Buffalo! F*** YOU!
BMI is backed by a lot of data that suggests if these guys stay at this weight when their playing days are done, they will be in trouble. especially if all that muscle mass turns to fat like it usually does. It stress the heart to carry that much weight around, even if it is all muscle.
You don’t see a lot of big bodied athletes living long lives afterall.
The BMI holds up. If you are above your ideal weight according to BMI, your chances of developing high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, etc goes up as long as you are at that weight. Now, if you are below 5% body fat, you are probably OK. but you had better stay at that composition or else.
the problem now is that “normal” americans use an example of Lebron and say that the BMI is useless for them because of the same reasons. Lebron and the other well tuned athletes are in the minority. The majority of people using this reasoning for themselves are just in denial about being overweight.
I see it and hear it all the time in my office and these are not well built athletes that are saying it.
One last thing abot Swig’s comment.
The NBA players seem to be in very good shape, but I would guess that about 75% of NFL players ARE obese.
Every offensive and defensive lineman is overweight and usually sloppy overweight at that.
That right there is a good % of the players. Throw in a couple big running backs and you just about get to that #
Peyton manning and big ben aren’t exactly pictures of health either.
I think America has come to have an extremely distorted view of what a “normal” body weight is. and that’s because 2/3 of Americans are overweight.
“Every offensive and defensive lineman is overweight and usually sloppy overweight at that.”
kevin – i completely disagree. some of these guys probably are sloppy overweight, but many of them (especially the really good ones) are pretty solid. go to a browns camp sometime early on when they are not in full pads and take a look at a guy like shaun rogers. he might be listed at 350ish, but he is pretty solid.
Mike,
“pretty solid” does not make one healthy.
Again, America has a very distorted view of themselves. shaun rogers is very, very OBESE and unhealthy from a medical standpoint.
If you contend otherwise, then you and I will not come to an agreement ever.
It really scares me that you use shaun rogers as an example against my argument. I mean it’s really scary.
BMI is a bunch of BS. When I played my college ball @ Toledo, my BMI said I was obese. Me being 6’6″ 225, I wouldn’t exactly call that obese. Body fat % is a much better measure than BMI.
OK, one more time.
BMI for 99.99999% of the people in this world is an absolute great way to measure how healthy one’s weight is.
Highly trained athletes are an exception, but there just aren’t many of those walking around.
BMI predicts how your weight will affect you years down the road. and guess what? it works. it’s been proven over and over and over again. it’s funny that we are actually debating this because, according to the prognostic statistics, there is no debate possible.
for example Lyon, if you stay that size for the rest of your life, there is an increased chance you will develop health issues. It’s not guaranteed, but there is an increased chance. this is especially true if that weight is no longer pure muscle.
OK, i promise i’ll stop now. it’s the weekend and i feel like i’m lecturing one of my patients who just can’t grasp that they are not 20 anymore.